March 8, 2008

Feeling Like a Real Teacher

The student teacher in my classroom ended the week with a about 40 pieces of paper to grade and a box of reflection/summary diaries from The Diary of Anne Frank to evaluate. I wondered if she planned on taking things home or if she was going to attempt to finish up on Monday.

As we were packing up our bags and getting ready to leave she said, "I better take the rest of these home to grade."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Do you ever take work home on the weekend?" She asked.

That's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time! Heavy-duty grading has been light this quarter, and since she's been there, she's kept up on the grading while she observed me, and I graded quite a few of the standing weekly assignments, such as reading logs and writer's notebooks, as I monitored her lessons. She's on her own now, though.

I answered her with a laugh, "Of course I take work home! I try to keep on top of it during my preps, but sometimes I have no choice, especially when I have essays to assess."

"It's kind of exciting," she admitted to me. "I'm taking papers home to grade. I feel like a real teacher."

Welcome to the life of an English teacher, my dear. Try to keep up your enthusiasm after you realize that stack of papers doesn't go away until June.